Wednesday, 20 February 2013

Korean Salads...life beyond Pajeon is as easy!!

Sukju Namul (Korean Mung Bean Sprout Salad)...Going on vacation next week so of course trying to eat
healthy this week...as if...but hey, at least am trying...right?...OK, so one of my favorite
cuisines is Korean...I had it for the first time about 8 years back in the U.S.
and was hooked...of course not so easy to find at that time here so learnt a few basic dishes and when I say basic I mean really basic because
even the ingredients were hard to come by…now, of course it is a completely different story
altogether…from supermarkets to stand alone dedicated stores to one of the
finest Korean restaurant…all in the neighborhoodJ...these are the first two
dishes that a Korean colleague of mine had taught me...of course the cleaning of
both the sprouts and spinach takes time(read makes you want to pull your hair
out) but after that it is a breeze…both of these can be eaten as salads or as sides.

Sukju
Namul (Korean Mung Bean Sprout Salad)

Ingredients:

Mung Bean sprouts, washed, sorted and roots removed

Spring/Green
Onion, chopped

Sesame
seeds, lightly roasted

Dressing:

Light soy sauce, 1 tsp

Sesame oil, 1 tsp

Garlic clove, minced, 1

Sugar, a pinch

Instructions:

Blanch
bean sprouts in boiling water for no more than 30 seconds –they will become translucent.
Immediately rinse with cold water and drain well.

Combine
the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and sugar in a small bowl.

Mix the spring onions with the sprouts, Pour
the dressing over the sprouts. Mix well and serve topped with sesame seeds

I
have it at room temperature when eating with rice and chilled, when eating as a
salad.

I
also add a few red chili flakes at times.

Notes:

The
dressing amount is given for proportion and of course you can adjust according
to taste and quantity.